


Her Eyes

by Nariva



Category: The Intern (2015)
Genre: Cheating, Gen, Relationship Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-27
Updated: 2016-12-27
Packaged: 2018-09-12 14:00:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9074956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nariva/pseuds/Nariva
Summary: Even though he's married, Matt often feels like a single parent while trying to raise his daughter.





	

        He can't remember the color of Jules's eyes. He'd been speaking with the other mother, charmed by her kind words and dark green eyes, when he'd realized he couldn't recall the color of his wife's eyes. Alarmed at the realization, Matt had hurriedly excused himself from the conversation. He had driven home, only partially listening to Paige's enthusiastic description of her day, and worried the whole way. He'd avoided looking at pictures of them when he'd gotten home, had prepared Paige's favorite snack, and then retreated to their room. Matt had sat there, covered his own eyes, and tried his hardest to recall her eyes from memory alone.  
He could picture her clearly, her cheeks flushed with excitement during their second date.  
He could recall her face, near slack jawed with a mix of shock and joy, as he proposed to her.  
He could hear her voice, ecstatic, as she said the words, "I do."  
He... he couldn't do it. _He couldn't recall the color of her eyes_.  
Filled with shame, his disgust at himself nearly chocking him, he looked at their picture on the nightstand. Her brown eyes, frozen forever in time, looked back at him.  
  
        He hadn't thought it possible, but Jules was home even less now. A hurried bite of breakfast, a tired goodnight, it's all he sees of his wife nowadays. He forgets the color of her eyes again, and while he drives Paige to school, he realizes that a part of him doesn't mourn it. His hours with her have become minutes, and that same part of him resents it. Resents their distant relationship- resents the business that seems to consume all of her time. Matt understands that the About the Fit is her child, a marvelous creation of her passion, will, and determination. And yet, the part of him that doesn't mind that he's forgotten her eye color whispers, she has another child- a child of flesh and blood that's being ignored in favor of one of wood and stone. He lashes out at that part of him, reminds it that Jules is needed at About the Fit. It's her job, Matt fights back, she isn't _purposefully_ _ignoring_ Paige! The Jules he knew would _never_ do that! And yet, who took Paige to school every day, the other part of him whispers as they halt at a stop light. Who had rubbed his daughter's back as she vomited in their bathroom, sick and shaking? Who had comforted her, bandaged her scrapes, when she'd fallen off her bicycle last week? Matt... can't answer that. Not without giving it the answer he knows it wants. The brunette shakes his head, focuses on the road ahead, and ignores its cold satisfaction at his silence.  
  
        Very briefly, Matt considers calling his wife and yelling her. Paige is sick again, having caught a stomach bug that's rampaging around the school, and Jules had left for work. He'd asked Jules to stay- to call in for the day and _stay_ , and she'd refused. She'd done so regretfully, but she had still refused. Today was the day a meeting would take place, Jules had explained to him, and it concerned the direction in which her company was going. Missing it would send the wrong message, she'd insisted. The meeting needed her there for its success. Genuine regret had colored Jules's voice, made her goodbye small with guilt, but as Paige vomits once again, Matt finds that he can't sympathize with her. Their daughter is sick, her _daughter_ is sick, and once again the business had won. Rubbing his daughter's back, feeling her small shoulders shake from the strain, he feels a coldness he's never before felt. The Jules he knew would have made time for her daughter, would have explained the situation to her employees and rescheduled the meeting. The Jules he knew would have stayed home with her husband and sick daughter. Perhaps... perhaps the Jules he knew isn't there anymore. Perhaps the company has transformed her, made her into a Jules that focuses on it above all else. Matt fights back against the idea, fights the part of him where it came from, but he notices that this time he doesn't fight back as hard. As he comforts his daughter, whispering her favorite story to her, a new picture forms in his mind. He had always pictured the members of his family standing happily together. It was a private scene, one for him to imagine when sitting alone in the house became too much. Now, though... In his mind's eye, he stands with his daughter, holding her small hand in his own. The only difference, he notes, is that Jules no longer stands beside them. She stands apart from them with a different child- one made of wood and stone.  
  
        She... she's nice. He bites back a bout of shame at the thought, and smiles back at Paige in their rear view mirror. The other mother (Elizabeth, he'd learned) had listened with sympathy to his plight. Paige had gone through a rough patch with one of her friends, and calming her down, coupled with his own exhaustion from a rough night, had suddenly proven to be too much. He'd waved goodbye to his daughter and watched her disappear into the school, then cried. It had been mere chance that Elizabeth had walked out at that moment, her green eyes wide with concern as she hurriedly approached him. The woman had asked him if anything was wrong with Paige, and he'd shaken his head, hands covering his face as she led him to near by bench. She'd given him tissues and then asked, her voice gentle with concern, what was wrong. It was that gentle concern that had broken down the final barrier. Matt had confessed everything in a rushed bout of exhaustion and hurt- told her about the state of his marriage while she listened quietly. Elizabeth had held his hand after that- told him that while she wasn't in his position, she understood his feelings. It was then, he realized after he'd listened to her reassuring voice, that it had started. Afterwards, he'd began to notice, she would look for him at the school waiting area. She would smile when she found him, and give a welcoming wave. Matt would smile at her, and wave back. For a while, things never went beyond there. Smile, wave. Smile, wave. It had been today that things had finally changed. Elizabeth had seen him, smiled and waved, and instead of only returning her greeting, he'd gone and sat beside her. As the car in front of him turns right, Matt wonders at the new path he is on as he listens to Paige describe her day.  
  
        Carefully phrased questions brings him the information that Paige likes Elizabeth's son well enough, and Matt smiles at the knowledge. It's a good thing, he thinks, enjoying the sunlight of the early evening. Elizabeth, seated beside him on the bench, smiles back at him. She has such beautiful green eyes, the brunette thinks. He leans back and lets his eyes close. They've been talking for a few days now, and he finds himself enjoying her presence more and more. She's a single mother, but she understands the position he's in. It's that very fact, that she doesn't judge him for wanting more for himself and Paige, that has led him to sit with her again. Has led him to learn more about her, while he shares about himself and his daughter. It could be nice, Matt thinks, being with Elizabeth. She works, of course, but he's seen her around town before. Before their first conversation, he'd seen her playing with her son at the park. Seen her walking with him down the street, and sharing lunches with him at McDonalds. Briefly, he pictures himself and Paige beside them. He wonders what it would be like, to sit with Elizabeth and watch Paige share chicken nuggets with her son. To watch his daughter play tag with the boy at the park, while he and Elizabeth sit near by and enjoy the weather. Matt's surprised at how much the thought hurts him with want, how much he craves the thought of having a steady presence once again in his life. He wants to have a wife again, he realizes, he wants Paige to have a mother again. And in the back of Matt's mind, he notices that the picture of his family has once again changed. He still stands with Paige, but a woman once again stands beside him. Sometimes Jules's face looks out at him, framed by her hair and filled with long ago happiness at their marriage. But sometimes, he notes, it's Elizabeth's. Sometime, green eyes watch him with warmth and understanding, and a little boy plays with Paige.  
  
        It's only shock that keeps him from punching Ben. Matt had felt his stomach bottom out at the older man's words, and that was the only thing that had saved the other man. What the hell does Ben know about Jules and their relationship? He isn't Matt- he doesn't know how hard it is to almost single handedly raise Paige. He doesn't know what it's like to only briefly see Jules every morning and night- to watch his wife grow more distant with every passing day. So no, Ben doesn't know shit, and the man will have to wait outside now whenever he picks Jules up. Because, Matt thinks as he slowly uncurls his clenched fists, the 'holier than thou' bastard won't have shock to save him next time. This won't go over well with Paige, the brunette acknowledges, but Matt... Matt needs time to completely calm down, before he can see the other man's face again and not deck him. And yes, he admits to himself, feeling the shame that had never fully gone away flare back into complete life- he'd... he'd been wrong. He'd let the situation continue, let Jules continue to prioritize her job, while he had stayed quiet with his own dissatisfaction. He... he needs to think about this.  
  
        Matt... Matt needs to speak with his wife. _Now_. She'd come to him a few nights ago, and whispered that she'd wanted to fix things between them. He'd stayed silent then, turned away as the world shifted around him in uncertainty. Save their marriage? Could they still do that? Did he _want_ to still do that? What would be best for Paige? The questions buzzing in his mind, he comes to a decision. He needs to speak to Jules. The desire brings him to his feet, forces him to take the stairs two at a time as he fishes the keys from his pocket. Hope in his marriage to Jules blooms once again as he opens the door, small and cautious as it is. Yes- he would speak to Jules! Talk with her, discuss  _both_ their feelings. Perhaps... perhaps they can reach a compromise of some sort. Perhaps they can fix their marriage. He'll end things with Elizabeth, and perhaps... perhaps she'll spend more time at home. Perhaps she'll spend more time with her husband and daughter. Fumbling with his car door, Matt nearly throws himself into his car, jerking his seatbelt on as he starts his car. Perhaps, the fragile hope whispers, they can all be a family again. And in his mind, the picture of his family changes once again. He still holds Paige's hand, smiling down at her, but a different woman holds his other hand now. Brown eyes, not green, look warmly at her husband and daughter. Matt holds the image close, and hopes.

**Author's Note:**

> This story was born from my anger at the movie 'The Intern'. It's an adorable movie, yes, but their handling of Matt's cheating, and Jules's response/thoughts on it was (in my eyes) done poorly. Is it wrong for Matt to cheat? In my eyes, it is- I'm not advocating that Matt's cheating is totally ok. On the other hand, though, I feel as if the reasons given for his cheating (by Jules) are near complete bullshit. If I remember correctly, she says that he was the more successful one before he quit to be a stay-at-home dad, giving her the chance to pursue her career. Her talk to Ben about it basically (again, if I remember it correctly) amounted to her blaming his cheating ways on his own feelings of inadequacy (aka- he used to be successful, and now she's the one who is). And that was it. Seriously. Jules blamed his feelings only, and never admitted to the fact that maybe her not ever really being around much at home may have played a part in him seeking someone else. And it was that one sided view that made me write this. Because in my eyes, while his cheating was wrong, Jules played a part in it that was never acknowledged/dealt with in the movie. And that, also in my eyes, is complete bull. So- this.


End file.
